Push for Gurgaon in final smart city list

The state's mandarins will hold a meeting on the selections with officials of the Union urban development ministry after chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar returns from the US, according to sourcesTNN | August 24, 2015, 17:50 IST

A water tanker moves past Malibu Towne residential apartments at Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, June 16, 2012. Cippling power and water shortages, crater-riddled roads and open sewage drains have made it an extreme example of the poor infrastructure that is constraining growth in Asia's third-largest economy. REUTERSGURGAON: The Haryana government is likely to recommend the inclusion of Gurgaon in the Modi government's flagship project to develop 100 smart cities at a meeting this week after being roundly criticized for shortlisting Faridabad and Karnal.

The state's mandarins will hold a meeting on the selections with officials of the Union urban development ministry after chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar returns from the US, according to sources. A high-level meeting is also scheduled for August 26 in Chandigarh under the chairmanship of Khattar and Rao Narbir Singh, the state PWD minister and MLA from Badshapur.

But a decision will have to be taken quickly as the Centre intends to announce the final list of 100 cities by September 1. TOI had reported on July 30 that the Haryana government had written to the urban development ministry, requesting it to include Gurgaon in the final list of smart cities, without financial assistance, if needed. Officials don't see funds being a hurdle if the city makes the final cut.

Director of urban local bodies (ULB) Pankaj Agarwal told TOI on Sunday, "A final call on proposing Gurgaon's name for the smart city project will be taken only after the chief minister is back from his foreign tour. If not in the first phase, we will try to push for Gurgaon's inclusion in the second phase of the project."

Based on the points system laid down by the Centre for the smart city challenge, Faridabad and Karnal - which happens to be the CM's constituency - made the cut from a longlist of 10. Gurgaon lost out despite being the largest contributor to the state's finances because, among other factors, it drew a blank in the JNNURM schemes segment. Critics found that unfair since Gurgaon does not have any JNNURM scheme and is fully self-sufficient on funds.

Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh had also expressed displeasure over the selection and said he had expected the state government to be fair. "I think it is too early to say that Gurgaon is being neglected by the Haryana government as was being done during the Congress rule. I am expecting the state government to adopt fair play while selecting the cities," Singh had said in Gurgaon earlier this month.

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